


The Bride of a Vulcan

by SpaceIdiot



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Amanda really likes him, Arranged Marriage, Eventual Romance, F/M, Getting to Know Each Other, Sarek is awkward, Vulcan Kiss, much to both their surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22102465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceIdiot/pseuds/SpaceIdiot
Summary: Amanda Grayson is to marry the Vulcan Ambassador to help make peace between Earth and Vulcan.
Relationships: Amanda Grayson/Sarek
Comments: 2
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is old as heck, but I decided to rewrite it because my love for Star Trek has recently been reawakened.

Amanda closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Her father was meeting with an ambassador from Vulcan. There had been quite a bit of friction between Earth and Vulcan over the last few months, and the ambassador was visiting to try to find something that would bring some understanding and peace between the Vulcan’s and the humans.  
She was only 19, she knew exactly what would happen at the end of this meeting. She would be given as a bride to a Vulcan ambassador, and therefore the government of earth and the government of Vulcan would have some common ground. Even if it was just a pale young Earth girl who liked to play the piano and work in the garden.  
She wasn't particularly sad that she wouldn't really have a romance or a loving marriage like many of her friends did. Yes those things sounded nice, but they'd never been a top priority for her. She was not really afraid of being in a foreign land with strange customs. She was not even afraid of being away from everything she had known and having no one to love her. She was always excited for a challenge and an adventure. But she was afraid that she would not be able to do what Earth and Vulcan together, not to mention her father, was expecting her to do. She was her father’s daughter, and duty and politics and peace were both very important to her. She swallowed hard. Well, maybe she was a bit more scared than she smiled – come to think of it she was terrified, really. What if it was all for nothing? What if the ambassador hated her and sent her back and things got worse better humanity and Vulcan?  
Amanda rubbed her eyes and looked at herself in her mirror. She would be brave, and she would do her duty. Everything would be ok. She laughed to herself as her eyes fell on the reflection of her shelf and saw her piles upon piles of fairytales and fantasy books. She had always loved the old stories of princesses who had to leave home to do their duty even if it wasn’t exactly what they wanted, and then everything turned out alright in the end. But now that it was happening to her, and she wasn’t sure the idea seemed quite so romantic. Would it turn out alright for her, she wondered.  
There was a gentle rap at her door.  
“Come in,” she said.  
A young blonde peaked his head inside. It was Lenny, her cousin, who was training under her father.  
“Rosie?” he said softly.  
“Hey Len.” she tried to smile.  
“Your dad wants you.”  
Amanda felt her heart beating very quickly. “Oh…”  
“Amanda Rose,” Lenny said seriously. He sat down next to his cousin and put his arm around her. “I know what you’re thinking, and, and, well, you’re right. Your dad does want you to marry that Vulcan –”  
“Don’t,” she said quietly. “He has a name.”  
“Yeah, Sarek.” Lenny paused, and smiled. “You’re a good kid, Rosie.”  
Amanda rubbed her eyes with her fingers. “Heh. Thanks…”  
Lenny kissed her forehead. “You better come on,” he said. “He wants you to meet him.”  
“Ok, just let me brush my hair.”


	2. Chapter 2

Amanda and her cousin walked slowly together to her father’s conference room. When they reached the door, Lenny stopped and turned Amanda towards him.  
“You’ll be brave, won’t you, Rosie?”  
“I hope so. It has to be done.”  
Lenny leaned his face down and kissed his cousin’s forehead. “You go, girly. You’ve got this. I’ll miss you.”  
Amanda smiled. Oh boy. This was harder than she thought. She reached out her hand and opened the door to the conference room. At the end of the room, her father stood with the Vulcan.The Vulcan wore a long, black and maroon robe all jaded and hemmed with gold and dark stones. His hair was black and slightly curly, and his frame was narrow and would have been unassuming, has his height not been just over six foot. Amanda swallowed, took a breath and called out to her father. Both men turned towards her. She flinched. His face – the Vulcan’s face – it was so stern, so and hard, so barren of any form of emotion. Could she stand to live with that her entire life? She bit her lip, trying to hide her sudden emotion. The Vulcan raised his eyebrows.  
“You called for me, Father?” she said in her best professional tone.  
“I did, my dear,” her father replied. She could see the sadness in his eyes.   
“What did you want?” she asked, despite knowing the answer.  
“I have arranged with the Vulcan ambassador, Sarek, that you are to go back to Vulcan with him as his wife.”  
“Yes, Father.”  
Her father widened his eyes. “You do not object?”  
She shook her head. “No, Father.”  
The human ambassador looked sad, but also slightly relieved. The Vulcan ambassador looked unphased, and stepped forward.  
“I am Sarek,” he said in a low, constrained voice. “Your father and I have agreed that it would be best for us both if we were to have a period of time to become familiar with each other before I take you back to Vulcan.”  
Amanda nodded. “I appreciate that.  
“Would a space of a month be sufficient for you?”  
“A month,” she said breathlessly. “Y-yes. A month would be sufficient.”  
The Vulcan nodded. “Good. I have other business to attend to at the moment; I will speak with you tomorrow.” He held up his hand in the Vulcan farewell. “Live long and prosper, Amanda.”  
Amanda held up her hand. “Live long and prosper, Ambassador,” she replied.  
Sarek nodded, then turned and left the room.  
Amanda sat abruptly down, a funny feeling overcoming her. “Dad,” she began, but he held up his hand in protest.  
“Amanda – I’m so sorry – I –”  
“That’s just what I was going to say,” she interrupted. “I don’t think I actually mind all that much.”  
“You - what?”  
“I don’t think I really mind marrying Sarek and going back to Vulcan. In fact, I think it’ll be kind of fun.”  
“But what about your career, your students?”  
“They play piano on Vulcan, don’t they?”  
“Well, yes, I think they do.”  
“Then I’ll teach there.”  
Amanda’s father leaned down and placed his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Speak truthfully to me, Amanda Rose,” he said sharply. “Do you really want to do this or not? If you don’t – I can call the whole thing off! I can –”  
“No, Daddy, you can’t. What’s done is done and at this point stopping the engagement would be a disaster. And besides, I think I do want to do this.” She considered the odd sensation in the pit of her stomach. “Yes,” she nodded. “I do want to do this.”


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Amanda was sitting in her living room, reading a book, when she heard a gentle, though somewhat insistent knock at her door. She wondered if that was the sound of a Vulcan’s knock. Standing up, she checked herself in the mirror and went to the door. The tall, spare figure of Ambassador Sarek stood before her. This time he was dressed in a long black coat that crossed over his chest and buttoned at his shoulder and a pair of shin-high black boots. He stared at her, emotionless, his eyebrows slightly raised and his lips slightly pursed.  
“Come in, Ambassador,” she said, beckoning him to enter the house. “Would you like me to take your coat?”  
He nodded solemnly. Amanda took his coat, which revealed a high-collared gray sweater, and hung the jacket over the back of a chair in the corner.  
“Please, come sit down,” she smiled. “Would you like something to drink?”  
“I would prefer not,” he said with a shake of his head.  
Amanda was silent a moment, not quite sure how to proceed.  
“Your father tells me that you teach the piano to human youths,” said Sarek, walking over to the piano in the corner and looking at it, his finger just touching the corner.  
“Yes I do,” nodded Amanda. She was quite proud of her accomplishment. “I’ve been teaching for about 5 years, even though I’m only 19, and I have almost 30 students.”  
“You are 19?” asked the Vulcan slowly. “I would have thought you were older.”  
“No,” Amanda smiled. “Just 19.”  
“That is rather young for a human, is it not?”  
“Well, sort of, I mean…” she hesitated. “Humans live generally to 80 or 90 years at least.”  
“I meant it was young for a human marriage,” he corrected.  
“Sometimes they get married at my age.”  
“I see.”  
“How long does a Vulcan usually live?”  
“The average lifespan of a Vulcan is 200 years.”  
“How old are you?”  
Sarek looked at her. “Much older than you.”  
Amanda looked at the floor, letting out an awkward breath. “So... what do Vulcan’s do to have fun?”  
“For fun?” He looked at her, his head tilted. “Vulcan’s do not have – fun. What humans see as “fun” is most illogical.”  
“I – I mean, what do they do they do when they’re not working or eating or sleeping? What do they do in their free time?”  
“We study, generally. Or practicing music, on occasion.”  
“Music?” Amanda’s heart rose. “Do you play any instruments?”  
“No.”  
“Oh…” her heart fell. “Are you sure you don’t want something to drink?”  
“I am sure.”  
“Ok.”  
Eventually their conversation became more comfortable. They talked about Vulcan and human traditions, favorite books, favorite subjects they had had in school, and how difficult it was to learn Vulcan. He taught her a few simple words and phrases in Vulcan, and she tried to explain some human sayings that he’d never been able to wrap his mind around. She'd laughed, and she could have sworn she saw him while once.  
When Sarek left at last, Amanda fell down limply on her sofa and let out a heavy sigh. She felt exhausted, yet happy.  
“Oh…” she breathed, a smile on her lips. “What a funny person."  
She stopped herself mid-giggle and sat up. What was that, that feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach. Was it fear- excitement? Could she possibly be looking forward to living her life with Sarek?  
She shook her head, stood up, and went to play her piano.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Sarek came again, this time for a meal. She'd learned a traditional Vulcan recipe and cooked it herself. She knew it wasn't perfect, but he was kind about it and said that it was very good.  
Almost every day for the next three weeks Sarek and Amanda met. They would talk together, visit local sights, and Amanda even offered to teach him to play the piano – he graciously refused. He would, though, go out into her garden with her and work there. Despite the fact that she would be moving away at the end of the month, they spent many afternoons planting and pruning flowers and weeding the expansive beds. She wanted the place to look as good as possible for her father, because she knew he would never have time to keep it up. She grew to like the Vulcan, quite a bit, sitting there in the garden, half splattered in mud, chatting and sharing glances and occasional grazes of hands. She knew what that meant to a Vulcan, and it therefore meant a lot to her.  
Towards the end of the month Amanda invited Lenny to be present at a meal she was making for the ambassador. She thought it would be nice to have her cousin, who she’d always been very close to her, to meet her future husband. The conversation was much more tense than it had been any of the days before – and unfortunately that was mostly due to Lenny. Amanda had been able to keep things civil, but when the meal was finished, Lenny requested a brief chat with the ambassador while Amanda cleaned up the dishes.  
Lenny lead Sarek outside to the garden. Sarek went to pass him, when Lenny reached out and grabbed Sarek’s arm, whirling him around.   
“What is this?” Sarek asked slowly, his eyebrow raised.  
“I want to warn you, Ambassador Sarek!” Lenny said sharply.  
“Warn me?”  
“ Look, I love my cousin like a sister. You’d better be good to her, and take care of her, and you had better love her!”  
The Vulcan furrowed his brows. “Love is an illogical emotion, Mr. Grayson. It is the logical thing for me to marry your cousin and bring peace between Earth and Vulcan, and it is the logical thing to “take care of her” as you say. I will not be unkind to her, and you may be sure that she will be treated with the utmost care that the Vulcan planet can give her.”  
Lenny pursed his lips. “Well you’d better be sure of that.”  
“I shall.”  
Amanda walked up to them at the tail end of this conversation and smiled hesitantly. “I hope you two are getting along,” she said, noticing the tension.  
“Your cousin seems concerned that I will not take care of you when I take you back to Vulcan,” Sarek said.  
“Oh don’t be silly,” Amanda laughed, standing on her toes and kissing her cousin on the cheek. “He will take very good care of me, won’t you, Ambassador?”  
Sarek nodded. “I will do my utmost.”  
Amanda smiled, but Lenny did not seem convinced.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days passed, and the day of the wedding was drawing close. Most of Amanda’s things were packed, and she spent a good portion of her days out in the garden, soaking up the atmosphere of earth as best she could before she would leave it forever.  
“Hello, Amanda,” came the voice of her betrothed.  
She jumped up, covered in dirt and sweat from replanting a few bushes.  
“Well hello!” she exclaimed with an ambarased little laugh. “I wasn’t expecting you this early. Sorry I’m such a mess.”  
Sarek raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “There is no reason to apologize.”  
“Well that’s nice to know.” Amanda stood from the ground and brushed the dirt off of her pants. “I guess I’ll have to wear a dress all the time on Vulcan?”  
“It is usually the custom.”  
Amanda shrugged. “Oh well, I don’t really mind all that much.”  
Amanda saw Sarek swallow, and a faint shade of nervousness passed over his stern face.  
“What’s wrong?” she asked.  
“I spoke with your father this morning,” he said. “He told me that it is an earth custom for one member of a proposed union to give a ring to the other, as a sign of their desire.”  
“That’s right,” replied Amanda. “And the other person takes it as a sign of her consent.”  
Sarek bowed his head and slipped a thick, silver ring with a jade stone off of his finger. “Then I offer you this ring, Lady Amanda, in return for your consent of our union.”  
She found herself suddenly anxious. “And I take it, Ambassador Sarek,” she said, her voice quivering. He laid the ring in her palm. She tried to slip it onto her finger but found it too large. Sarek reached out his hands and gently touched Amanda’s, slowly slipping the ring onto her thumb. Amanda smiled, and a tear twinkled in her eye.  
“You smile,” Sarek said, “Yet you appear sad. I do not understand this pairing of human emotion.”  
Amanda started to laugh.  
The Ambassador furrowed his brows, looking slightly alarmed. “Why do you laugh?”  
She bit her lip. “I - I’m sorry, Ambassador, to alarm you,” she said. “It’s just that I didn’t expect it to happen at all like this.”  
“Expect what to happen?” he asked.  
“To fall in love. Maybe someday, but like this? With you?” She hesitated and shook her head.  
“I am afraid to inform you that Vulcans do not fall in love,” Sarek said, “It is an illogical custom.  
“It’s more logical than marrying someone you don’t love, or don’t even like, isn’t it?” Amanda proposed.  
Sarek hesitated. “I suppose – it is.”  
The two of them looked at each other for a moment - the tall, stern ambassador, and the smiling young woman. Sarek reached out his hand and lifted Amanda’s, folding down her fingers so that only her middle and pointer fingers remained pointed out. He took his other hand and pressed his own pointer and middle fingers against hers. He ran them up the front of her fingers, and then the back, and back to the front. She noticed his breathing suddenly quicken.  
“This is a Vulcan kiss,” he said breathlessly. “You will be expected to use this method whenever we are in public.”  
Amanda reached up her free hand and placed it on the Ambassador's cheek, pulling him down to meet her lips.  
“This is a human kiss,” she said when they parted. “You will be expected to use this method whenever we are in private.”  
Sarek raised an eyebrow.  
“It is not unpleasant,” he said.  
Amanda smiled, looking down at where their fingers still touched. “No, not unpleasant at all.”


End file.
